This came up on a discussion list. Apparently some raw commercial diets have high levels of thyroid ground in and this may produce this rare -- and generally serious -- thyroid cancer in dogs. If you feed a raw commercial diet, it might be wise to check with the manufacturer on levels of thyroid included (and if they verify content):

I also see that someone noted that amongst dog cookbooks for those who home-prepare, the Whole Dog Journal had recommended The Healthy Dog Cookbook. If anyone has that issue, maybe let us know some of the others?

8th March 2013, 02:46 PM

cpell009

Hmmm...Gracie has a low thyroid, so could this possibly HELP her? Either way I will research the brands I have been trying out - NRG and The Honest Kitchen.

8th March 2013, 04:29 PM

Karlin

No, doubt you'd want to treat low thyroid by feeding ground up thyroid glands, I don't think (not that this is a choice -- this is considered an improperly balanced raw diet and the glands are not supposed to be in ground meat).

However this interesting article suggests that AFTER getting the condition under control through medication, glandular supplements might help (Dr Jean Dodds is advising here).

Thanks for this info Karlin - really interesting reads! I feed dehydrated/freeze-dried raw so I am not sure if the same imbalances can occur. But I do feed them chicken/turkey necks every now and then - do the necks include the thyroid tissues?

Gracie is on a daily dose of synthroid. The whole reason I came to have her is because she was intended to be bred, and had been pregnant with her first litter but absorbed the puppies. When this happened she was tested and her hypothyroid condition was discovered - therefore no more breeding! I don't think she had any noticeable behavioral issues - the only thing I can think of is she is very sensitive and easily scared, and she is pretty lethargic (compared to crazy Lady!). I'm going to have my vet do a full thyroid panel on her in a few months time to make sure she's receiving the right dosage.

8th March 2013, 05:49 PM

Karlin

It's a really thorough article but might be a bit out of date by now? I am not sure if there have been many changes but Whole Dog Journal always do good, in depth pieces.

Necks would be fine, none of the glands are attached. Not sure if chicken thyroid would be of concern anyway though as they'd be so small compared to beef.

With all the issues we have had in Europe about meat not being properly labelled it does make you wonder! I hope the commercial raws over here all know the provenance of their beef.